News headlines in April 2009, page 16

Norway's foreign affairs minister Jonas Gahr Støre has called for giving new priority to nuclear disarmament that has been assigned to oblivion since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Economic and political leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean are trying to help come up with responses to a problem for which they do not feel responsible – the global economic crisis – although they do want to be part of the solution.

As Barack Obama packs his bags for his first trip as president to Latin America and the Caribbean, the big question is whether he will be bringing much with him - beyond his listening skills and charisma - that will excite the region and its leaders at the fifth 'Summit of the Americas' in Trinidad and Tobago this weekend.

It seems safe to say that the first year of existence for J Street, the self-described 'pro-Israel, pro-peace' lobbying organisation, was more eventful than anticipated.

Glyphosate, the herbicide used on soybeans in Argentina, causes malformations in amphibian embryos, say scientists here who revealed the findings of a study that has not yet been published.

A majority of U.S. citizens feel that it is time to try a new approach to Cuba, according to a recent national poll by WorldPublicOpinion.org.

Government troops are closing in on the last remnants of Tamil Tiger resistance in northern Sri Lanka as an upsurge of more that two years of fighting winds down. But, the country’s economic woes aren’t over. More and more pressure it being put on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cash-strapped administration.

Why is the U.N. keeping its report on the 2007 terrorist attack in Algeria secret? The world body’s staff union says it wants to know.

South Africans buying products with 'biodegradable' plastic packaging are often duped by companies eager to profit from the current trend towards environmentally-conscious consumerism. While the plastics do break up into small pieces, they remain toxic and potentially dangerous to human health.

The U.S. programme of drone aircraft strikes against higher-ranking officials of al Qaeda and allied militant organisations, which has been touted by proponents as having eliminated nine of the 20 top al Qaeda leaders, is actually weakening Pakistan’s defence against the insurgency of the Islamic militants there by killing large numbers of civilians based on faulty intelligence and discrediting the Pakistani military, according to data from the Pakistani government and interviews with senior analysts.